Child pornography
Child pornography or refers to pornographic material depicting children. It has been described as a form of child sexual abuse and is illegal in most countries, although a controversial British ruling argued that mere access to it could be interpreted as a victimless crime.Anger at child porn sentence BBC News | 29 May 2001 (Retrieved 29 May 2007) Relation to child abuse Where child pornography involves depictions of children engaging in sexual conduct, the production of this material will in itself be legally prohibited as child sexual abuse in most countries. The profit that can be generated from selling such images is seen as a factor in encouraging the original abuse that is photographed or filmed. On the other hand, it has been argued that laws against the possession of child pornography constitute Thought crime.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/india_knight/article2461236.ece Substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in the US declined dramatically in number between 1992 and (at least) 1998.Jones, L., and Finkelhor, D. (2001). The Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases. Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. A substatantial decline also appears to have occured in Australia.Dunne, Purdie, Cook, Boyle, & Najman (2003). "Is Child Sexual Abuse Declining? Evidence from a Population-Based Survey of Men and Women in Australia," Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 27(2):141-52 In contrast, the United Kingdom Children's charity NCH have stated that demand for child pornography on the Internet has led to an increase in sex abuse cases, though this conflicts with the Office for National Statistics's 2007 report on Child Protection Registers, which shows a decrease of approximately 27% in the number of sexually abused children between 2003 and 2007 on the register.DCSF: Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan or are on Child Protection Registers, England - Year ending 31 March 2007 Whether or not artificially created erotic or pornographic material (e.g., lolicon, some pornographic dōjinshi, etc.) constitutes "child abuse" is highly disputed, as no actual children are necessarily involved in the production. Link between viewing child pornography and subsequent acts of child sexual abuse The purported link between use of child pornography and child abuse has been used to justify the prohibition of sexual depictions of children, whether their production involves child abuse or not. This link is itself disputed:Child Pornography: An International Perspective, p.8. "Considerable controversy exists within the social and behavioural science community about the negative effects, if any, of child pornography upon the behaviour of potential or actual offenders. ... Many researchers have come to the conclusion that there is no sound scientific basis for concluding that exposure to child pornography increases the likelihood of sexual abuse of children. Others have suggested that there is a consistent correlation between the use of pornography and sexual aggression." Sex therapist Petr WeissChild porn consumers safe from prosecution in the Czech Republic. "Every civilized country protects children from premature sex and so the production of child porn is, of course, punishable. But on the other hand, child porn can help pedophiles to fulfill their deviant needs on the fantasy level and therefore they do not need to put into practice their pedophile urges. So abuse of children may actually decrease with the use of child porn." and Canadian Justice Jeff Shaw,Child-porn law is struck down by B.C. judge for instance, have argued that child pornography use may decrease cases of child sexual abuse by allowing pedophiles to sublimate their desires. Effects on the children Responses In Canada Canadian law forbids the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography. Prohibition covers the visual representations of sexual activity by children under 18 and the depiction of their sexual organ/anal region for a sexual purpose, unless an artistic, educational, scientific, or medical justification can be provided. It also includes the written depictions of children engaging in sexual activity.http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/cc/cc.163.1.html Criminal Code of Canada, section 163ff, accessed 2008-01-10 Law that addresses dynamic aspects of the Internet by regulating the nature of live-time chatting and email communications that may relate to enticing children for pornographic (e.g., web cam) or other sexual purposes has passed in 2002. It also criminalizes the intentional access of child pornography. In the Philippines On September 15, 2007, the Children and Youth Secretariat of the Anti-Child Pornography Alliance (ACPA-Pilipinas) in the Philippines launched Batingaw Network "to protect and save children from all forms of abuses and exploitations." It is the largest anti-child pornography movement in the Philippines to date. It declared September 28 as the "National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography.Abs-Cbn Interactive, Batingaw vs child porn launched See also * Anti-pornography movement * Child modeling (erotic) * Child prostitution * Child sexual abuse * Internet pornography * Nudity and children * Pedophilia * Pornography addiction References External Links * * *Library on child pornography and related topics Category:Child pornography Pornography Category:Sex offenses